Supermodels Au Naturale

McMenamy for Peter Lindbergh at Harper's Bazzar

Peter Lindbergh has been taken by his no make up, not re-touching concept. Lindbergh believes fashion has gone too far with ‘Photoshop’, artificially changing how we perceive models.

Recently in the trailer of ‘The September Issue’ documentary by RJ Cutter, which follows Anna Wintour and her editors as they prepare for the most important issue of the year, we see Mario Testino discussing a way to make Sienna Miller more presentable. He decides to Photoshop her head onto a different photo of her body !!!

In an interview with The New York Times he told “My feeling is that for years now it has taken a much too big part in how women are being visually defined today. Heartless retouching should not be the chosen tool to represent women in the beginning of this century.”

More and more we see perfect women in magazines. Perfected to a state we, mortals, cannot relate to. We are now used to believing they are perfect humans, with more than perfect skin and features. As Eric Wilson explains in The New York Times.

“Gwyneth Paltrow’s skin is indeed made of Silly Putty, as it appeared to be on the May 2008 cover of Vogue, or that Jessica Simpson’s body comes with only one hip, though her left one was suspiciously missing on last September’s cover of Elle, or wonder how the shape of Reese Witherspoon’s chin, dimples and eye color could change so drastically from her angelic Marie Claire appearance in February 2008 to her polished Vogue cover in November to her kittenish Elle pose this April.“

They look real. Human. Maybe that is why the Supermodel revival is happening. They are all real women, living real lives with children, husbands, ex-husbands, and real problems. They are all over 40. People are likely to relate more to these women, and that is why they are in the most important issues of the year, the September issue.

Amber Valletta, Helena Christensen, Claudia Schiffer, Tatjana Patitz, Cindy Crawford, and Kristen McMenamy, the Vogue Italia legends. Leading the charge against all the madness of retouching, Peter Lindbergh captures the supermodels for Harpers Bazaar’s September 2009, Supermodels Supernatural.

Rosane Ribeiro

Amber Valetta

Cindy Crawnford

Claudia Schiffer

Helena Christensen

Tatiana